23 Aug 24

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Wakeham Railway Cuttings, Wakeham Railway Cuttings (east), Bumpers Lane, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Higher Horse Paddock and Lower Horse Paddock

With Storm Lilian moving through pretty sharpish, it left a really sunny but windy day in its wake. So for a change Ted and I had an extended walk to see what was about.

Main highlights were 2 House Martins heading south, a Painted Lady in the Railway Cuttings east and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth in Bumpers Lane


Birds Recorded:
1 Cormorant
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
2 House Martin
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch


Reptiles Recorded:
Common Lizard

Wall Lizard

A Common Lizard and........

..........a Wall Lizard.

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
Dragonfly sp. - A very large blue dragonfly in Bumpers Lane

Butterflies Recorded:
5 Large White
4 Green-veined White
8 Speckled Wood
6 Meadow Brown
1 Red Admiral
1 Painted Lady
6 Common Blue
6 Chalk Hill Blue

A Green-veined White

And a Speckled Wood

And this a Meadow Brown

And a male Common Blue and......

..........another male.

This is a female Common Blue

These are male............

..............Chalk Hill Blues. And..........

...........this is a female.

Moths Recorded:
5 Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana)

1 Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

A Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) at rest in Bumpers Lane

Bees Recorded:

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Common Furrow-bee (Lasioglossum calceatum)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

#1 - bee sp.

A Common Furrow-bee (Lasioglossum calceatum)

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

And I think this...............

.................is a White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) on Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)

A Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum) on a Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)

I have no problem being told differently but I think............

.................this a "washed-out" Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

This is another Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

#1 - bee sp.

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies Recorded:
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum)

Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

A Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

And a Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)
House Fly (Neomyia sp.)

I'm pretty sure this is.........

...........one of the House Fly family (Neomyia sp.)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)

1 Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)

This is a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) - form succinea

And a Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

A Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

And another Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) with a flesh fly sp. for company

Stuck on this one:

#1 - hoverfly maybe!!

Plants:
Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia)

This plant is..........

...............Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia).

Ted:

There was a grey cat on the otherside of the field. Fortunately he couldn't see it, but I'm sure he knew there was a cat close-by.

 That's a good boy, there's nothing there for you to worry about.

Ships Today:

This is the Japanese Vehicles Carrier "Cepheus Leader" on its way from Southampton to Cristobal (Panama). More on this vessel here